After a record-setting win last week, Nashville SC travel to Atlanta to take on the Five Stripes in a match MLS has consistently pushed as a rivalry.
For the latest on United, we checked in with J. Sam Jones, who is one of the voices behind Five Stripe Final, the best spot to go for the latest on Atlanta United.
Ben Wright (SixOneFive Soccer): Atlanta spent tons of money, mostly on their attack, this offseason, but it doesn't seem like things have clicked. From your perspective, what's going on?
J. Sam Jones (Five Stripe Final): If I laid out everything, 615 Soccer is going to turn into 404 Soccer with a quickness. It would genuinely take hours and multiple layers of backstory going all the way back to a low-balled initial contract offer to Darlington Nagbe sometime around early 2019.
But, to keep it short, the easiest way to think about this team is that it’s virtually the same middling roster as the 2024 side with a pair of new DPs trying to cover over clear flaws. Yes, last year’s group found some magic at the very end of the postseason. But a heroic performance from Brad Guzan in goal and Miami’s own issues made it an impressive upset that didn’t actually indicate future success.
Still, it should be better than…this. There’s nothing redeeming for this team right now. The underlying numbers don’t suggest a major change is coming and they seem to be spiraling a little more every week. The pieces don’t fit together, Ronny Deila’s tactical identity hasn’t taken hold (if it even exists?) and every mistake seems to lead to even more mistakes. They’re in the negative feedback loop from hell right now.
Is it fixable? Maybe. But at some point, Deila has to make hard choices with this lineup. Choices that probably involve dropping DP No. 10 Alexey Miranchuk back into the double pivot, or just dropping him from the starting lineup entirely. Plan A has been a total disaster. It would be a wild decision to keep sticking with it.
